Government Suraksha insurance scheme under fire for politicisation
View(s):The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) last week accused the Ministry of Education (MOE) of politicising the ‘Suraksha’ insurance scheme the government introduced last October for all school children.
It is learned the MOE had marked last Thursday (7) as National students’ Insurance day and invited all parents to schools to propagate the Suraksha insurance scheme under the slogan ‘lets protect our children forever’, introduced this year on World Children’s Day.
General Secretary, Joseph Stalin said that complaints to the elections commissioner that the event is being politicised by the ruling party as a propaganda stage for the upcoming local government elections have been ignored.
He said that banners were put up at entrances to schools and parents, students, teachers and principals were made to listen to a recording on the insurance scheme.
The MOE in its website said that the programme was planned to sensitise the school community to the benefits of the scheme to school children.
Under the ‘Suraksha’ scheme 4.5 million school children in 11,242 schools will be entitled up to a sum of Rs.200,000 a year in case of disease, disability or death. (CC)